If you don't like standing in a queue to file your business forms at the Investment Promotion Authority (IPA) or if the prospect of physically mailing your business forms through the postal system is too time consuming then this post should help you get started with filing any business forms at the IPA using email instead.
We are living in the information age so why shouldn't you use technology to file your forms electronically with the IPA or any relevant government agency in PNG right?
Electronic filing is quite common in most developed nations and I believe one of the contributing factors of the ease of doing business in those countries. Well the good news in PNG is that an IPA online lodgment project is in the works and should go live sometimes in late August 2013 together with a revamped IPA website.
The IPA in its effort to enhance its service delivery in 2009 introduced an electronic filing facility (EFF) where by any interested person could file business registration or statutory forms through email from the very comfort of their office or homes.
Using email to file your business forms at the IPA makes a lot of business sense. For a start it is simple to implement. If you have a laptop and can access the internet you are good to go. E-filing removes the hassle of standing in a line to manually file your forms at the IPA. You won't have to worry about your forms getting lost in the postal system because it arrives electronically at the IPA for receipting and processing. In essence, you save time that you can put to better use in growing your business.
It should be noted that electronically filed statutory forms are only accepted from registered EFF subscribers only. So if you want to e-file your statutory forms you first have to register with the IPA for an EFF account. Registering an EFF account requires submitting an EFF application for approval by the IPA. Basically the EFF operates on prepaid credit. As long as you have credit in your EFF account you can e-file your business forms for receipting and processing at the IPA.
There are two types of EFF account you can choose from. A basic account that does not require an annual subscription and a premium account that requires one. A basic EFF account starts at a minimum prepaid credit block of PGK100. Email lodgments coming in from a user with a basic EFF account are treated as if done over the counter or through surface mail.
A premium EFF account has an annual subscription fee of PGK1000. Email lodgments from premium accounts are given priority over basic accounts and feed back should be expected within three to seven working days depending on the processing back log. In addition premium account holders receive emailed acceptance or rejection notices on the e-filed statutory form.
All EFF subscribers will be emailed an official IPA receipt of their lodgment and an e-statement after their forms are receipted while the original certificates and other notices will be surface mailed back to the EFF subscriber.
Creating Your Own EFF Account
There are already a good number of business consulting, legal and accounting firms and individual consultants in PNG and overseas who regularly deal with the IPA or whose line of work require business information maintained by the Registrar of Companies and so have found it useful to have a registered EFF account to do e-filing of their statutory forms to the IPA and to request for company extracts.
To register for your very own EFF account you can download an EFF registration form from here. The EFF application form is quite simple and straight forward to complete. You are applying either as an individual or as an organization and to start with you either choose a basic account or a premium account.
After completing your EFF application submit it back to the IPA through email or post with evidence of your first payment of prepaid credits. You can purchase prepaid credit blocks starting from PGK100 upwards and can be replenished when it runs out. If you choose "premium account" on your EFF registration form then you should ensure to also pay a subscription fee of PGK1000 on top of your prepaid credit blocks.
Once the appropriate fund amount as listed on your EFF application are cleared into the IPA account your EFF account will be activated and you will be sent confirmation email. You can then begin using your EFF account to e-file statutory forms to the IPA.
The kinds of service that can be done at the IPA using the electronic filing facility include:
Types of Business Services Offered Through the EFF
- Electronic filing of all statutory documents required by the IPA (new entity registrations and data maintenance of existing entities);
- Email requests for organizational historical and current extracts;
- Email requests for copies of business certificates;
- Email requests for organizational name availability searches;
- Email requests for people searches (director, secretary or shareholder roles in other organizations) and;
- Email requests for organizational searches (shareholding or agent roles)
So do you still want to lodge your forms manually at the IPA?